the charge is the same but, the insurance company only pays 80% for a PA/NPC of what it does for a DR... and then, only because there are DRs around in private practice, the DR is NOT always around for the PA to bill under(incident to) and then the pay is even less
and if they DO full bill when the DR isn't there, it's ILLEGAL...
H’mmmmm.
While my husband has private insurance, it has a deductible.
He has a couple of chronic conditions and has to see his doc every 6 months for tests and to renew his meds.
Last time, Doc was on vacation, so DH saw the PA (who, BTW, screwed up his scripts). When Doc returned the following week, hubby was in distress and went in and the meds were adjusted back down to comfort levels.
When we got the bill, both the visit to the PA and the visit to the MD were billed at the same amount, down to the dollar.
I suppose it was because he was self pay?